“SBCloud: A Cloud-based Platform for Cryo-EM Structure Determination and Training from SBGrid”
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Date and Time
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Wednesday, April 16th, 2025
Location
Hybrid (Zoom and KEK CryoEM building)
Speakers:
Jason Key, PhD

Associate Director of Technology & Innovation, SBGrid Consortium Lecturer on Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology,
Harvard Medical School
Abstract
The ever-growing demand for computational power, data storage, and access to cutting-edge scientific software can be a formidable challenge for structural biology research labs. SBGrid, an international research computing consortium based at Harvard Medical School aims to break down technological barriers in structural biology and accelerate discoveries. To support this mission, SBGrid provides an extensive suite of scientific software, expert domain-specific support, computing hardware solutions, and training for scientists investigating molecular mechanisms at the atomic level. Recognizing the increasing computational demands of cryo-EM structure determination, we developed SBCloud—an AWS infrastructure-as-code high-performance computing environment designed for advanced analysis and visualization of structural biology data. We have used SBCloud to host global cryo-EM workshops, fostering collaboration and hands-on training in high-performance computing for structural biologists. We recently offered SBCloud to the SBGrid community on a limited basis, enabling researchers to tackle cryo-EM and Cryo-ET structure determination projects and enabling us to test our platform at scale. In this presentation, I will share insights and lessons learned from our experience in training and supporting the global cryo-EM and Cryo-ET research community and discuss the role of cloud resources in computational structural biology.
Profile
1997 BS Biochemistry
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
2004 Ph.D, Time-resolved Laue diffraction of Bacterial sensor proteins
University of Chicago, Chicago IL, USA
2004-2007, Postdoc, Femtosecond laser spectroscopy of sensor proteins
Free University Amsterdam/University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
2007-2012, Postdoc, Inhibition of HIF-2alpha with small molecules
University of Texas Southwestern, TX USA
2012-2014, Structural Biology Computing Specialist, Harvard
2014-current, Lecturer on Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
2014-current, Associate DIrector of Technology and Innovation, SBGrid Consortium